ONE of the most interesting
chapters in the story of the progress of civilization is that particular one
which tells of the coming of :the railway.

With the birth of James Watt,
in 1736, the age of steam dawned brightly, but it was not till after William
Murdoch was born, eighteen years later, that the locomotive became a
tangible idea. To this clever Scotsman belongs the honour of constructing
the first steam engine that ever moved on wheels in England and of inventing
coal-gas lighting.

He was born in Ayrshire on
the 21st August, 1754, the second son of a millwright. Growing tired of
employment in his father’s trade, in 1777 he tramped to Birmingham and found
a position with Boulton and Watt, the engineers. Both partners recognized
that he had a natural genius for mechanics, and it was not long before they
sent him down to Cornwall to erect their engines at different mines in that
county.

Not content with improving on
this firm’s productions, he became fascinated with the ambition to build an
engine which would have the power of locomotion. Devoting all his spare time
to this idea, he at last managed to construct a tiny little machine,
standing on three wheels, about a foot in height, and with a spirit-lamp
underneath the boiler to turn the water into steam.

One dark night, on returning
from his work at the mines, he determined to try his little model on the
straight road leading to the church, just outside Redruth. The inventor,
trembling with excitement, lit the little spirit lamp and patiently waited
for the water to boil. This happened sooner than he expected, with a puff
and a snort the model started off at a good speed, with the excited Scotsman
after it.

Suddenly, in front of him, he
heard agonized and exclamations, but the darkness prevented him from seeing
whence they emanated. When at last he reached the scene of the commotion, he
saw the worthy parson of the parish in a great state of fear, calling out at
the top of his voice that the Evil One, breathing out fire and smoke, had
but a moment ago passed him on the road.

Murdoch’s efforts to invent a
locomotive were soon brought to an end, for Boulton and Watt advised him not
to waste his time on such idle and hopeless dreams. He, therefore, tuned his
attention back again to the improvement of the stationary engine.

Fortunately the ambition
cherished by Murdoch, who died in 1839, had found a warm place in the heart
of young Richard Trevithick.

WILLIAM MURDOCK: HIS LIFE AND
INVENTIONS

"Justice exacts, that those
by whom we are most benefited
Should be most admired."--Dr. Johnson.

"The beginning of
civilization is the discovery of some useful arts, by which men acquire
property, comforts, or luxuries. The necessity or desire of preserving them
leads to laws and social institutions... In reality, the origin as well as
the progress and improvement of civil society is founded on mechanical and
chemical inventions."--Sir Humphry Davy.

At the middle of last
century, Scotland was a very poor country. It consisted mostly of mountain
and moorland; and the little arable land it contained was badly cultivated.
Agriculture was almost a lost art. "Except in a few instances," says a
writer in the 'Farmers' Magazine' of 1803, "Scotland was little better than
a barren waste." Cattle could with difficulty be kept alive; and the people
in some parts of the country were often on the brink of starvation. The
people were hopeless, miserable, and without spirit, like the Irish in their
very worst times. After the wreck of the Darien expedition, there seemed to
be neither skill, enterprise, nor money left in the country. What resources
it contained were altogether undeveloped. There was little communication
between one place and another, and such roads as existed were for the
greater part of the year simply impassable. There were various opinions as
to the causes of this frightful state of things. Some thought it was the
Union between England and Scotland; and Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, "The
Patriot," as he was called, urged its Repeal. In one of his publications, he
endeavoured to show that about one-sixth of the population of Scotland was
in a state of beggary-- two hundred thousand vagabonds begging from door to
door, or robbing and plundering people as poor as themselves.[1]
Fletcher was accordingly as great a repealer as Daniel O'Connell in after
times. But he could not get the people to combine. There were others who
held a different opinion. They thought that something might be done by the
people themselves to extricate the country from its miserable condition.

It still possessed some
important elements of prosperity. inhabitants of Scotland, though
poor, were strong and able to work. The land, though cold and sterile, was
capable of cultivation.

Accordingly, about the middle
of last century, some important steps were taken to improve the general
condition of things. A few public-spirited landowners led the way, and
formed themselves into a society for carrying out improvements in
agriculture. They granted long leases of farms as a stimulus to the most
skilled and industrious, and found it to their interest to give the farmer a
more permanent interest in his improvements than he had before enjoyed. Thus
stimulated and encouraged, farming made rapid progress, especially in the
Lothians; and the example spread into other districts. Banks were
established for the storage of capital. Roads were improved, and
communications increased between one part of the country and another. Hence
trade and commerce arose, by reason of the facilities afforded for the
interchange of traffic. The people, being fairly educated by the parish
schools, were able to take advantage of these improvements. Sloth and
idleness gradually disappeared, before the energy, activity, and industry
which were called into life by the improved communications.

At the same time, active and
powerful minds were occupied in extending the domain of knowledge. Black and
Robison, of Glasgow, were the precursors of James Watt, whose invention of
the condensing steam-engine was yet to produce a revolution in industrial
operations, the like of which had never before been known. Watt had hit upon
his great idea while experimenting with an old Newcomen model which belonged
to the University of Glasgow. He was invited by Mr. Roebuck of Kinneil to
make a working steam-engine for the purpose of pumping water from the
coal-pits at Boroughstoness; but his progress was stopped by want of
capital, as well as by want of experience. It was not until the brave and
generous Matthew Boulton of Birmingham took up the machine, and backed Watt
with his capital and his spirit, that Watt's enterprise had the remotest
chance of success. Even after about twelve years' effort, the condensing
steam-engine was only beginning, though half-heartedly, to be taken up and
employed by colliery proprietors and cotton manufacturers. In developing its
powers, and extending its uses, the great merits of William Murdock can
never be forgotten. Watt stands first in its history, as the inventor;
Boulton second, as its promoter and supporter; and Murdock third, as its
developer and improver.

William Murdock was born on
the 21st of August, 1754, at Bellow Mill, in the parish of Auchinleck,
Ayrshire. His father, John, was a miller and millwright, as well as a
farmer. His mother's maiden name was Bruce, and she used to boast of being
descended from Robert Bruce, the deliverer of Scotland. The Murdocks, or
Murdochs--for the name was spelt in either way--were numerous in the
neighbourhood, and they were nearly all related to each other. They are
supposed to have originally come into the district from Flanders, between
which country and Scotland a considerable intercourse existed in the middle
ages. Some of the Murdocks took a leading part in the construction of the
abbeys and cathedrals of the North;[2] others were known as mechanics; but
the greater number were farmers.

One of the best known members
of the family was John Murdock, the poet Burns' first teacher. Burns went to
his school at Alloway Mill, when he was six years old. There he learnt to
read and write. When Murdock afterwards set up a school at Ayr, Burns, who
was then fifteen, went to board with him. In a letter to a correspondent,
Murdock said: "In 1773, Robert Burns came to board and lodge with me, for
the purpose of revising his English grammar, that he might be better
qualified to instruct his brothers and sisters at home. He was now with me
day and night, in school, at all meals, and in all my walks." The pupil even
shared the teacher's bed at night. Murdock lent the boy books, and helped
the cultivation of his mind in many ways. Burns soon revised his English
grammar, and learnt French, as well as a little Latin. Some time after,
Murdock removed to London, and had the honour of teaching Talleyrand English
during his residence as an emigrant in this country. He continued to have
the greatest respect for his former pupil, whose poetry commemorated the
beauties of his native district. It may be mentioned that Bellow Mill is
situated on the Bellow Water, near where it joins the river Lugar. One of
Burns' finest songs begins:--

"Behind yon hills where Lugar
flows."

That was the scene of William
Murdock's boyhood. When a boy, he herded his father's cows along the banks
of the Bellow; and as there were then no hedges, it was necessary to have
some one to watch the cattle while grazing. The spot is still pointed out
where the boy, in the intervals of his herding, hewed a square compartment
out of the rock by the water side, and there burnt the splint coal
found on the top of the Black Band ironstone. That was one of the
undeveloped industries of Scotland; for the Scotch iron trade did not arrive
at any considerable importance until about a century later.[3] The little
cavern in which Murdock burnt the splint coal was provided with a fireplace
and vent, all complete. It is possible that he may have there derived, from
his experiments, the first idea of Gas as an illuminant.

Murdock is also said to have
made a wooden horse, worked by mechanical power, which was the wonder of the
district. On this mechanical horse he rode to the village of Cumnock, about
two miles distant. His father's name is, however, associated with his own in
the production of this machine. Old John Murdock had a reputation for
intelligence and skill of no ordinary kind. When at Carron ironworks, in
1760, he had a pinton cast after a pattern which he had prepared. This is
said to have been the first piece of iron-toothed gearing ever used in mill
work. When I last saw it, the pinton was placed on the lawn in front of
William Murdock's villa at Handsworth. The young man helped his father in
many ways. He worked in the mill, worked on the farm, and assisted in the
preparation of mill machinery. In this way he obtained a considerable amount
of general technical knowledge. He even designed and constructed bridges. He
was employed to build a bridge over the river Nith, near Dumfries, and it
stands there to this day, a solid and handsome structure. But he had an
ambition to be something more than a country mason. He had heard a great
deal about the inventions of James Watt; and he determined to try whether he
could not get "a job" at the famous manufactory at Soho. He accordingly left
his native place in the year 1777, in the twenty-third year of his age; and
migrated southward. He left plenty of Murdocks behind him. There was a
famous staff in the family, originally owned by William Murdock's
grandfather, which bore the following inscription: "This staff I leave in
pedigree to the oldest Murdock after me, in the parish of Auchenleck, 1745."
This staff was lately held by Jean Murdock, daughter of the late William
Murdock, joiner, cousin of the subject of this biography.

When William arrived at Soho
in 1777 he called at the works to ask for employment. Watt was then in
Cornwall, looking after his pumping engines; but he saw Boulton, who was
usually accessible to callers of every rank. In answer to Murdock's enquiry
whether he could have a job, Boulton replied that work was very slack with
them, and that every place was filled up. During the brief conversation that
took place, the blate young Scotchman, like most country lads in the
presence of strangers, had some difficulty in knowing what to do with his
hands, and unconsciously kept twirling his hat with them. Boulton's
attention was attracted to the twirling hat, which seemed to be of a
peculiar make. It was not a felt hat, nor a cloth hat, nor a glazed hat: but
it seemed to be painted, and composed of some unusual material. "That seems
to be a curious sort of hat," said Boulton, looking at it more closely;
"what is it made of?" "Timmer, sir," said Murdock, modestly. "Timmer? Do you
mean to say that it is made of wood?" "'Deed it is, sir." "And pray how was
it made?" "I made it mysel, sir, in a bit laithey of my own contrivin'."
"Indeed!"

Boulton looked at the young
man again. He had risen a hundred degrees in his estimation. William was a
good-looking fellow--tall, strong, and handsome--with an open intelligent
countenance. Besides, he had been able to turn a hat for himself with a
lathe of his own construction. This, of itself, was a sufficient proof that
he was a mechanic of no mean skill. "Well!" said Boulton, at last, "I will
enquire at the works, and see if there is anything we can set you to. Call
again, my man." "Thank you, sir," said Murdock, giving a final twirl to his
hat.

Such was the beginning of
William Murdock's connection with the firm of Boulton and Watt. When he
called again he was put upon a trial job, and then, as he was found
satisfactory, he was engaged for two years at 15s. a week when at home, 17s.
when in the country, and 18s. when in London. Boulton's engagement of
Murdock was amply justified by the result. Beginning as an ordinary
mechanic, he applied himself diligently and conscientiously to his work, and
gradually became trusted. More responsible duties were confided to him, and
he strove to perform them to the best of his power. His industry,
skilfulness, and steady sobriety, soon marked him for promotion, and he rose
from grade to grade until he became Boulton and Watt's most trusted
co-worker and adviser in all their mechanical undertakings of importance.

Watt himself had little
confidence in Scotchmen as mechanics. He told Sir Waiter Scott that though
many of them sought employment at his works, he could never get any of them
to become first-rate workmen. They might be valuable as clerks and
book-keepers, but they had an insuperable aversion to toiling long at any
point of mechanism, so as to earn the highest wages paid to the workmen.[4]
The reason no doubt was, that the working-people of Scotland were then only
in course of education as practical mechanics; and now that they have had a
century's discipline of work and technical training, the result is
altogether different, as the engine-shops and shipbuilding-yards of the
Clyde abundantly prove. Mechanical power and technical ability are the
result of training, like many other things.

When Boulton engaged Murdock,
as we have said, Watt was absent in Cornwall, looking after the
pumping-engines which had been erected at several of the mines throughout
that county. The partnership had only been in existence for three years, and
Watt was still struggling with the difficulties which he had to surmount in
getting the steam engine into practical use. His health was bad, and he was
oppressed with frightful headaches. He was not the man to fight the
selfishness of the Cornish adventurers. "A little more of this hurrying and
vexation," he said, "will knock me up altogether." Boulton went to his help
occasionally, and gave him hope and courage. And at length William Murdock,
after he had acquired sufficient knowledge of the business, was able to
undertake the principal management of the engines in Cornwall.

We find that in 1779, when he
was only twenty-five years old, he was placed in this important position.
When he went into Cornwall, he gave himself no rest until he had conquered
the defects of the engines, and put them into thorough working order. He
devoted himself to his duties with a zeal and ability that completely won
Watt's heart. When he had an important job in hand, he could scarcely sleep.
One night at his lodgings at Redruth, the people were disturbed by a strange
noise in his room. Several heavy blows were heard upon the floor. They
started from their beds, rushed to Murdock's room, and found him standing in
his shirt, heaving at the bedpost in his sleep, shouting "Now she goes,
lads! now she goes!"

Murdock became a most popular
man with the mine owners. He also became friendly with the Cornish workmen
and engineers. Indeed, he fought his way to their affections. One day, some
half-dozen of the mining captains came into his engine-room at Chacewater,
and began to bully him. This he could not stand. He stript, selected the
biggest, and put himself into a fighting attitude. They set to, and in a few
minutes Murdock's powerful bones and muscles enabled him to achieve the
victory. The other men, who had looked on fairly, without interfering,
seeing the temper and vigour of the man they had bullied, made overtures of
reconciliation. William was quite willing to be friendly. Accordingly they
shook hands all round, and parted the best of friends. It is also said that
Murdock afterwards fought a duel with Captain Trevethick, because of a
quarrel between Watt and the mining engineer, in which Murdock conceived his
master to have been unfairly and harshly treated.[5]

The uses of Watt's
steam-engine began to be recognised as available for manufacturing purposes.
It was then found necessary to invent some method by which continuous rotary
motion should be secured, so as to turn round the moving machinery of mills.
With this object Watt had invented his original wheel-engine. But no steps
were taken to introduce it into practical use. At length he prepared a
model, in which he made use of a crank connected with the working beam of
the engine, so as to produce the necessary rotary motion. There was no
originality in this application. The crank was one of the most common of
mechanical appliances. It was in daily use in every spinning wheel, and in
every turner's and knife-grinder's foot-lathe. Watt did not take out a
patent for the crank, not believing it to be patentable. But another person
did so, thereby anticipating Watt in the application of the crank for
producing rotary motion. He had therefore to employ some other method, and
in the new contrivance he had the valuable help of William Murdock. Watt
devised five different methods of securing rotary motion without using the
crank, but eventually he adopted the "Sun-and-planet motion," the invention
of Murdock. This had the singular property of going twice round for every
stroke of the engine, and might be made to go round much oftener without
additional machinery. The invention was patented in February, 1782, five
Years after Murdock had entered the service of Boulton and Watt.

Murdock continued for many
years busily occupied in superintending the Cornish steam-engines. We find
him described by his employers as "flying from mine to mine," putting the
engines to rights. If anything went wrong, he was immediately sent for. He
was active, quick-sighted, shrewd, sober, and thoroughly trustworthy.
Down to the year 1780, his wages were only a pound a week; but Boulton made
him a present of ten guineas, to which the owners of the United Mines added
another ten, in acknowledgment of the admirable manner in which he bad
erected their new engine, the chairman of the company declaring that he was
"the most obliging and industrious workman he had ever known." That he
secured the admiration of the Cornish engineers may be obvious from the fact
of Mr. Boaze having invited him to join in an engineering partnership; but
Murdock remained loyal to the Birmingham firm, and in due time he had his
reward.

He continued to be the "right
hand man" of the concern in Cornwall. Boulton wrote to Watt, towards the end
of 1782: "Murdock hath been indefatigable ever since he began. He has
scarcely been in bed or taken necessary food. After slaving night and day on
Thursday and Friday, a letter came from Wheal Virgin that he must go
instantly to set their engine to work, or they would let out the fire. He
went and set the engine to work; it worked well for the five or six hours he
remained. He left it, and returned to the Consolidated Mines about eleven at
night, and was employed about the engines till four this morning, and then
went to bed. I found him at ten this morning in Poldice Cistern, seeking for
pins and castors that had jumped out, when I insisted on his going home to
bed."

On one occasion, when an
engine superintended by Murdock stopped through some accident, the water
rose in the mine, and the workmen were "drowned out." Upon this occurring,
the miners went "roaring at him" for throwing them out of work, and
threatened to tear him to pieces. Nothing daunted, he went through the midst
of the men, repaired the invalided engine, and started it afresh. When he
came out of the engine-house, the miners cheered him vociferously and
insisted upon carrying him home upon their shoulders in triumph!

Steam was now asserting its
power everywhere. It was pumping water from the mines in Cornwall and
driving the mills of the manufacturers in Lancashire. Speculative mechanics
began to consider whether it might not be employed as a means of land
locomotion. The comprehensive mind of Sir Isaac Newton had long before, in
his 'Explanation of the Newtonian Philosophy,' thrown out the idea of
employing steam for this purpose; but no practical experiment was made.
Benjamin Franklin, while agent in London for the United Provinces of
America, had a correspondence with Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, and Dr.
Darwin, of Lichfield, on the same subject. Boulton sent a model of a
fire-engine to London for Franklin's inspection; but Franklin was too much
occupied at the time by grave political questions to pursue the subject
further. Erasmus Darwin's speculative mind was inflamed by the idea of a
"fiery chariot," and he urged his friend Boulton to prosecute the
contrivance of the necessary steam machinery.[6]

Other minds were at work.
Watt, when only twenty-three years old, at the instigation of his friend
Robison, made a model locomotive, provided with two cylinders of tin plate;
but the project was laid aside, and was never again taken up by the
inventor. Yet, in his patent of 1784, Watt included an arrangement by means
of which steam-power might be employed for the purposes of locomotion. But
no further model of the contrivance was made.

Meanwhile, Cugnot, of Paris,
had already made a road engine worked by steam power. It was first tried at
the Arsenal in 1769; and, being set in motion, it ran against a stone wall
in its way and threw it down. The engine was afterwards tried in the streets
of Paris. In one of the experiments it fell over with a crash, and was
thenceforward locked up in the Arsenal to prevent its doing further
mischief. This first locomotive is now to be seen at the Conservatoire des
Arts et Metiers at Paris. Murdock had doubtless heard of Watt's original
speculations, and proceeded, while at Redruth, during his leisure hours, to
construct a model locomotive after a design of his own. This model was of
small dimensions, standing little more than a foot and a half high, though
it was sufficiently large to demonstrate the soundness of the principle on
which it was constructed. It was supported on three wheels, and carried a
small copper boiler, heated by a spirit lamp, with a flue passing obliquely
through it. The cylinder, of 3/4 inch diameter and 2-inch stroke, was fixed
in the top of the boiler, the piston-rod being connected with the vibratory
beam attached to the connecting-rod which worked the crank of the
driving-wheel. This little engine worked by the expansive force of steam
only, which was discharged into the atmosphere after it had done its work of
alternately raising and depressing the piston in the cylinder.

Mr. Murdock's son, while
living at Handsworth, informed the present writer that this model was
invented and constructed in 1781; but, after perusing the correspondence of
Boulton and Watt, we infer that it was not ready for trial until 1784. The
first experiment was made in Murdock's own house at Redruth, when the little
engine successfully hauled a model waggon round the room,--the single wheel,
placed in front of the engine and working in a swivel frame, enabling it to
run round in a circle.

Another experiment was made
out of doors, on which occasion, small though the engine was, it fairly
outran the speed of its inventor. One night, after returning from his duties
at the mine at Redruth, Murdock went with his model locomotive to the avenue
leading to the church, about a mile from the town. The walk was narrow,
straight, and level. Having lit the lamp, the water soon boiled, and off
started the engine with the inventor after it. Shortly after he heard
distant shouts of terror. It was too dark to perceive objects, but he found,
on following up the machine, that the cries had proceeded from the worthy
vicar, who, while going along the walk, had met the hissing and fiery little
monster, which he declared he took to be the Evil One in propria persona!

When Watt was informed of
Murdock's experiments, he feared that they might interfere with his regular
duties, and advised their discontinuance. Should Murdock still resolve to
continue them, Watt urged his partner Boulton, then in Cornwall, that,
rather than lose Murdock's services, they should advance him 100L.; and, if
he succeeded within a year in making an engine capable of drawing a
post-chaise carrying two passengers and the driver, at the rate of four
miles an hour, that a locomotive engine business should be established, with
Murdock as a partner. The arrangement, however, never proceeded any further.
Perhaps a different attraction withdrew Murdock from his locomotive
experiments. He was then paying attention to a young lady, the daughter of
Captain Painter; and in 1785 he married her, and brought her home to his
house in Cross Street, Redruth.

In the following
year,--September, 1786--Watt says, in a letter to Boulton, "I have still the
same opinion concerning the steam carriage, but, to prevent more fruitless
argument about it, I have one of some size under hand. In the meantime, I
wish William could be brought to do as we do, to mind the business in hand,
and let such as Symington and Sadler throw away their time and money in
hunting shadows." In a subsequent letter Watt expressed his gratification at
finding "that William applies to his business." From that time
forward, Murdock as well as Watt, dropped all further speculation on the
subject, and left it to others to work out the problem of the locomotive
engine.

Murdock's model remained but
a curious toy, which he took pleasure in exhibiting to his intimate friends;
and, though he long continued to speculate about road locomotion, and was
persuaded of its practicability, he abstained from embodying his ideas of
the necessary engine in any complete working form. Murdock nevertheless
continued inventing, for the man who is given to invent, and who possesses
the gift of insight, cannot rest. He lived in the midst of inventors. Watt
and Boulton were constantly suggesting new things, and Murdock became
possessed by the same spirit. In 1791 he took out his first patent. It was
for a method of preserving ships' bottoms from foulness by the use of a
certain kind of chemical paint. Mr. Murdock's grandson informs us that it
was recently re-patented and was the cause of a lawsuit, and that Hislop's
patent for revivifying gas-lime would have been an infringement, if it had
not expired.

Murdock is still better known
by his invention of gas for lighting purposes. Several independent inquirers
into the constituents of Newcastle coal had arrived at the conclusion that
nearly one-third of the substance was driven off in vapour by the
application of heat, and that the vapour so driven off was inflammable. But
no suggestion had been made to apply this vapour for lighting purposes until
Murdock took the matter in hand. Mr. M. S. Pearse has sent us the following
interesting reminiscence: "Some time since, when in the West of Cornwall, I
was anxious to find out whether any one remembered Murdock. I discovered one
of the most respectable and intelligent men in Camborne, Mr. William Symons,
who not only distinctly remembered Murdock, but had actually been present on
one of the first
occasions when gas was used. Murdock, he says, was very fond of children,
and not unfrequently took them into his workshop to show them what he was
doing. Hence it happened that on one occasion this gentleman, then a boy of
seven or eight, was standing outside Murdock's door with some other boys,
trying to catch sight of some special mystery inside, for Dr. Boaze, the
chief doctor of the place, and Murdock had been busy all the afternoon.
Murdock came out, and asked my informant to run down to a shop near by for a
thimble. On returning with the thimble, the boy pretended to have lost it,
and, whilst searching in every pocket, he managed to slip inside the door of
the workshop, and then produced the thimble. He found Dr. Boaze and Murdock
with a kettle filled with coal. The gas issuing from it had been burnt in a
large metal case, such as was used for blasting purposes. Now, however, they
had applied a much smaller tube, and at the end of it fastened the thimble,
through the small perforations made in which they burned a continuous jet
for some time."[7]

After numerous experiments,
Murdock had his house in Cross Street fitted up in 1792 for being lit by
gas. The coal was subjected to heat in an iron retort, and the gas was
conveyed in pipes to the offices and the different rooms of the house, where
it was burned at proper apertures or burners.[8] Portions of the gas were
also confined in portable vessels of tinned iron, from which it was burned
when required, thus forming a moveable gas-light. Murdock had a gas lantern
in regular use, for the purpose of lighting himself home at night across the
moors, from the mines where he was working, to his home at Redruth. This
lantern was formed by filling a bladder with gas and fixing a jet to the
mouthpiece at the bottom of a glass lantern, with the bladder hanging
underneath.

Having satisfied himself as
to the superior economy of coal gas, as compared with oils and tallow, for
the purposes of artificial illumination, Murdock mentioned the subject to
Mr. James Watt, jun., during a brief visit to Soho in 1794, and urged the
propriety of taking out a patent. Watt was, however, indifferent to taking
out any further patents, being still engaged in contesting with the Cornish
mine-owners his father's rights to the user of the condensing steam-engine.
Nothing definite was done at the time. Murdock returned to Cornwall and
continued his experiments.

At the end of the same year
he exhibited to Mr. Phillips and others, at the Polgooth mine, his apparatus
for extracting gases from coal and other substances, showed it in use, lit
the gas which issued from the burner, and showed its "strong and beautiful
light." He afterwards exhibited the same apparatus to Tregelles and others
at the Neath Abbey Company's ironworks in Glamorganshire.

Murdock returned to Soho in
1798, to take up his permanent residence in the neighbourhood. When the mine
owners heard of his intention to leave Cornwall, they combined in offering
him a handsome salary provided he would remain in the county; but his
attachment to his friends at Soho would not allow him to comply with their
request. He again urged the firm of Boulton and Watt to take out a patent
for the use of gas for lighting purposes. But being still embroiled in their
tedious and costly lawsuit, they were naturally averse to risk
connection with any other patent. Watt the younger, with whom Murdock
communicated on the subject, was aware that the current of gas obtained from
the distillation of coal in Lord Dundonald's tar-ovens had been occasionally
set fire to, and also that Bishop Watson and others had burned gas from
coal, after conducting it through tubes, or after it had issued from the
retort. Mr. Watt was, however, quite satisfied that Murdock was the first
person who had suggested its economical application for public and private
uses. But he was not clear, after the legal difficulties which had been
raised as to his father's patent rights, that it would be safe to risk a
further patent for gas.

Mr. Murdock's suggestion,
accordingly, was not acted upon. But he went on inventing in other
directions. He thenceforward devoted himself entirely to mechanical
pursuits. Mr. Buckle has said of him:-- "The rising sun often found him,
after a night spent in incessant labour, still at the anvil or
turning-lathe; for with his own hands he would make such articles as he
would not intrust to unskilful ones." In 1799 he took out a patent (No.
2340), embodying some very important inventions. First, it included the
endless screw working into a toothed-wheel, for boring steam-cylinders,
which is still in use. Second, the casting of a steam-jacket in one
cylinder, instead of being made in separate segments bolted together with
caulked joints, as was previously done. Third, the new double-D slide-valve,
by which the construction and working of the steam-engine was simplified,
and the loss of steam saved, as well as the cylindrical valve for the same
purpose. And fourth, improved rotary engines. One of the latter was set to
drive the machines in his private workshop, and continued in nearly constant
work and in perfect use for about thirty years.

In 1801, Murdock sent his two
sons William and John to the Ayr Academy, for the benefit of Scotch
education. In the summer-time they spent their vacation at Bellow Mill,
which their grandfather still continued to occupy. They fished in the river,
and "caught a good many trout." The boys corresponded regularly with their
father at Birmingham. In 1804, they seem to have been in a state of great
excitement about the expected landing of the French in Scotland. The
volunteers of Ayr amounted to 300 men, the cavalry to 150, and the riflemen
to 50. "The riflemen," says John, "go to the seashore every Saturday to
shoot at a target. They stand at 70 paces distant, and out of 100 shots they
often put in 60 bullets!" William says, "Great preparations are still making
for the reception of the French. Several thousand of pikes are carried
through the town every week; and all the volunteers and riflemen have
received orders to march at a moment's warning." The alarm, however, passed
away. At the end of 1804, the two boys received prizes; William got one in
arithmetic and another in the Rector's composition class; and John also
obtained two, one in the mathematical class, and the other in French.

To return to the application
of gas for lighting purposes. In 1801, a plan was proposed by a M. Le Blond
for lighting a part of the streets of Paris with gas. Murdock actively
resumed his experiments; and on the occasion of the Peace of Amiens in
March, 1802, he made the first public exhibition of his invention. The whole
of the works at Soho were brilliantly illuminated with gas. The sight was
received with immense enthusiasm. There could now be no doubt as to the
enormous advantages of this method of producing artificial light, compared
with that from oil or tallow. In the following year the manufacture of
gas-making apparatus was added to the other branches of Boulton and Watts'
business, with which Murdock was now associated,--and as much as from 4000L.
to 5000L. of capital were invested in the new works.

The new method of lighting
speedily became popular amongst manufacturers, from its superior safety,
cheapness, and illuminating power. The mills of Phillips and Lee of
Manchester were fitted up in 1805; and those of Burley and Kennedy, also of
Manchester, and of Messrs. Gott, of Leeds, in subsequent years. Though
Murdock had made the uses of gas-lighting perfectly clear, it was some time
before it was proposed to light the streets by the new method. The idea was
ridiculed by Sir Humphry Davy, who asked one of the projectors if he
intended to take the dome of St. Paul's for a gasometer! Sir Waiter Scott
made many clever jokes about those who proposed to "send light through the
streets in pipes;" and even Wollaston, a well known man of science, declared
that they "might as well attempt to light London with a slice from the
moon." It has been so with all new projects--with the steamboat, the
locomotive, and the electric telegraph. As John Wilkinson said of the first
vessel of iron which he introduced, "it will be only a nine days' wonder,
and afterwards a Columbus's egg."

On the 25th of February,
1808, Murdock read a paper before the Royal Society "On the Application of
Gas from Coal to economical purposes." He gave a history of the origin and
progress of his experiments, down to the time when he had satisfactorily lit
up the premises of Phillips and Lee at Manchester. The paper was modest and
unassuming, like everything he did. It concluded:-- "I believe I may,
without presuming too much, claim both the first idea of applying, and the
first application of this gas to economical purposes."[9] The Royal Society
awarded Murdock their large Rumford Gold Medal for his communication.

In the following year a
German named Wintzer, or Winsor, appeared as the promotor of a scheme for
obtaining a royal charter with extensive privileges, and applied for powers
to form a joint-stock company to light part of London and Westminster with
gas. Winsor claimed for his method of gas manufacture that it was more
efficacious and profitable than any then known or practised. The profits,
indeed, were to be prodigious. Winsor made an elaborate calculation in his
pamphlet entitled 'The New Patriotic Imperial and National Light and Heat
Company,' from which it appeared that the net annual profits "agreeable to
the official experiments" would amount to over two hundred and twenty-nine
millions of pounds!--and that, giving over nine-tenths of that sum towards
the redemption of the National Debt, there would still remain a total profit
of 570L. to be paid to the subscribers for every 5L. of deposit! Winsor took
out a patent for the invention, and the company, of which he was a member,
proceeded to Parliament for an Act. Boulton and Watt petitioned against the
Bill, and James Watt, junior, gave evidence on the subject. Henry Brougham,
who was the counsel for the petitioners, made great fun of Winsor's absurd
speculations,[10] and the Bill was thrown out.

In the following year the
London and Westminster Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company succeeded in
obtaining their Act. They were not very successful at first. Many prejudices
existed against the employment of the new light. It was popularly supposed
that the gas was carried along the pipes on fire, and that the pipes must
necessarily be intensely hot. When it was proposed to light the House of
Commons with gas, the architect insisted on the pipes being placed several
inches from the walls, for fear of fire; and, after the pipes had been
fixed, the members might be seen applying their gloved hands to them to
ascertain their temperature, and afterwards expressing the greatest surprise
on finding that they were as cool as the adjoining walls.

The Gas Company was on the
point of dissolution when Mr. Samuel Clegg came to their aid. Clegg had been
a pupil of Murdock's, at Soho. He knew all the arrangements which Murdock
had invented. He had assisted in fitting up the gas machinery at the mills
of Phillips & Lee, Manchester, as well as at Lodge's Mill, Sowerby Bridge,
near Halifax. He was afterwards employed to fix the apparatus at the
Catholic College of Stoneyhurst, in Lancashire, at the manufactory of Mr.
Harris at Coventry, and at other places. In 1813 the London and Westminster
Gas Company secured the services of Mr. Clegg, and from that time forwards
their career was one of prosperity. In 1814 Westminster Bridge was first
lighted with gas, and shortly after the streets of St. Margaret's,
Westminster. Crowds of people followed the lamplighter on his rounds to
watch the sudden effect of his flame applied to the invisible stream of gas
which issued from the burner. The lamplighters became so disgusted with the
new light that they struck work, and Clegg himself had for a time to act as
lamplighter.

The advantages of the new
light, however, soon became generally recognised, and gas companies were
established in most of the large towns. Glasgow was lit up by gas in 1817,
and Liverpool and Dublin in the following year. Had Murdock in the first
instance taken out a patent for his invention, it could not fail to have
proved exceedingly remunerative to him; but he derived no advantage from the
extended use of the new system of lighting except the honour of having
invented it.[11] He left the benefits of his invention to the public, and
returned to his labours at Soho, which more than ever completely engrossed
him. Murdock now became completely identified with the firm of Boulton &
Watt. He assigned to them his patent for the slide-valve, the rotary engine,
and other inventions "for a good and valuable consideration." Indeed his
able management was almost indispensable to the continued success of the
Soho foundry. Mr. Nasmyth, when visiting the works about thirty years after
Murdock had taken their complete management in hand, recalled to mind the
valuable services of that truly admirable yet modest mechanic. He observed
the admirable system, which he had invented, of transmitting power from one
central engine to other small vacuum engines attached to the several
machines which they were employed to work. "This vacuum method," he says,
"of transmitting power dates from the time of Papin; but it remained a dead
contrivance for about a century until it received the masterly touch of
Murdock."

"The sight which I obtained"
(Mr. Nasmyth proceeds) "of the vast series of workshops of that celebrated
establishment, fitted with evidences of the presence and results of such
master minds in design and execution, and the special machine tools which I
believe were chiefly to be ascribed to the admirable inventive power and
common-sense genius of William Murdock, made me feel that I was indeed on
classic ground in regard to everything connected with the construction of
steam-engine machinery. The interest was in no small degree enhanced by
coming every now and then upon some machine that had every historical claim
to be regarded as the prototype of many of our modern machine tools. All
these had William Murdock's genius stamped upon them, by reason of their
common-sense arrangements, which showed that he was one of those original
thinkers who had the courage to break away from the trammels of traditional
methods, and take short cuts to accomplish his objects by direct and simple
means."

We have another recollection
of William Murdock, from one who knew him when a boy. This is the venerable
Charles Manby, F.R.S., still honorary secretary of the Institute of Civil
Engineers. He says (writing to us in September 1883), "I see from the public
prints that you have been presiding at a meeting intended to do honour to
the memory of William Murdock--a most worthy man and an old friend of mine.
When he found me working the first slide valve ever introduced into an
engine-building establishment at Horsley, he patted me on the head, and said
to my father, 'Neighbour Manby, this is not the way to bring up a good
workman --merely turning a handle, without any shoulder work.' He evidently
did not anticipate any great results from my engineering education. But we
all know what machine tools are doing now,--and where should we be without
them?"

Watt withdrew from the firm
in 1800, on the expiry of his patent for the condensing steam-engine; but
Boulton continued until the year 1809, when he died full of years and
honours. Watt lived on until 1819. The last part of his life was the
happiest. During the time that he was in the throes of his invention, he was
very miserable, weighed down with dyspepsia and sick headaches. But after
his patent had expired, he was able to retire with a moderate fortune, and
began to enjoy life. Before, he had "cursed his inventions," now he could
bless them. He was able to survey them, and find out what was right and what
was wrong. He used his head and his hands in his private workshop, and found
many means of employing both pleasantly. Murdock continued to be his fast
friend, and they spent many agreeable hours together.

They made experiments and
devised improvements in machines. Watt wished to make things more simple. He
said to Murdock, "it is a great thing to know what to do without. We must
have a book of blots--things to be scratched out." One of the most
interesting schemes of Watt towards the end of his life was the contrivance
of a sculpture-making machine; and he proceeded so far with it as to to able
to present copies of busts to his friends as "the productions of a young
artist just entering his eighty-third year." The machine, however, remained
unfinished at his death, and the remarkable fact is that it was Watt's only
unfinished work.

The principle of the machine
was to carry a guide-point at one side over the bust or alto-relievo to be
copied, and at the other side to carry a corresponding cutting-tool or drill
over the alabaster, ivory, jet, or plaster of Paris to be executed. The
machine worked, as it were, with two hands, the one feeling the pattern, the
other cutting the material into the required form. Many new alterations were
necessary for carrying out this ingenious apparatus, and Murdock was always
at hand to give his old friend and master his best assistance. We have seen
many original letters from Watt to Murdock, asking for counsel and help. In
one of these, written in 1808, Watt says: "I have revived an idea which, if
it answers, will supersede the frame and upright spindle of the reducing
machine, but more of this when we meet. Meanwhile it will be proper to
adhere to the frame, etc., at present, until we see how the other
alterations answer." In another he says: "I have done a Cicero without any
plaits--the different segments meeting exactly. The fitting the drills into
the spindle by a taper of 1 in 6 will do. They are perfectly stiff and will
not unscrew easily. Four guide-pullies answer, but there must be a pair for
the other end, and to work with a single hand, for the returning part is
always cut upon some part or other of the frame."

These letters are written
sometimes in the morning, sometimes at noon, sometimes at night. There was a
great deal of correspondence about "pullies," which did not seem to answer
at first. "I have made the tablets," said Watt on one occasion, "slide more
easily, and can counterbalance any part of their weight which may be
necessary; but the first thing to try is the solidity of the machine, which
cannot be done till the pullies are mounted." Then again: "The bust-making
must be given up until we get a more solid frame. I have worked two days at
one and spoiled it, principally from the want of steadiness." For Watt, it
must be remembered, was now a very old man.

He then proceeded to send
Murdock the drawing of a "parallel motion for the machine," to be executed
by the workmen at Soho. The truss braces and the crosses were to be executed
of steel, according to the details he enclosed. "I have warmed up," he
concludes, "an old idea, and can make a machine in which the pentagraph and
the leading screw will all be contained in the beam, and the pattern and
piece to be cut will remain at rest fixed upon a lath of cast iron or stout
steel." Watt is very particular in all his details: "I am sorry," he says in
one note, "to trouble you with so many things; but the alterations on this
spindle and socket [he annexes a drawing] may wait your convenience." In a
further note, Watt says. "The drawing for the parallel lathe is ready; but I
have been sadly puzzled about the application of the leading screws to the
cranes in the other. I think, however, I have now got the better of the
difficulties, and made it more certain, as well as more simple, than it was.
I have done an excellent head of John Hunter in hard white in shorter time
than usual. I want to show it you before I repair it."

At last Watt seems to have
become satisfied: "The lathe," he says, "is very much improved, and you seem
to have given the finishing blow to the roofed frame, which appears
perfectly stiff. I had some hours' intense thinking upon the machine last
night, and have made up my mind on it at last. The great difficulty was
about the application of the band, but I have settled it to be much as at
present."

Watt's letters to Murdock are
most particular in details, especially as to screws, nuts, and tubes, with
strengths and dimensions, always illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings. And
yet all this was done merely for mechanical amusement, and not for any
personal pecuniary advantage. While Watt was making experiments as to the
proper substances to be carved and drilled, he also desired Murdock to make
similar experiments. "The nitre," he said in one note, "seems to do harm;
the fluor composition seems the best and hardest. Query, what would some
calcined pipe-clay do? If you will calcine some fire-clay by a red heat and
pound it,--about a pound,--and send it to me, I shall try to make you
a mould or two in Henning's manner to cast this and the sulphur acid iron
in. I have made a screwing tool for wood that seems to answer; also one of a
one-tenth diameter for marble, which does very well." In another note, Watt
says: "I find my drill readily makes 2400 turns per minute, even with the
large drill you sent last; if I bear lightly, a three-quarter ferril would
run about 3000, and by an engine that might be
doubled."

The materials to be drilled
into medallions also required much consideration. "I am much obliged to
you," said Watt, "for the balls, etc., which answer as well as can be
expected. They make great progress in cutting the crust (Ridgways) or
alabaster, and also cut marble, but the harder sorts soon blunt them. At any
rate, marble does not do for the medallions, as its grain prevents its being
cut smooth, and its semi-transparence hurts the effect. I think Bristol
lime, or shell lime, pressed in your manner, would have a good effect. When
you are at leisure, I shall thank you for a few pieces, and if some of them
are made pink or flesh colour, they will look well. I used the ball quite
perpendicular, and it cut well, as most of the cutting is sideways. I tried
a fine whirling point, but it made little progress; another with a chisel
edge did almost as well as the balls, but did not work so pleasantly. I find
a triangular scraping point the best, and I think from some trials it should
be quite a sharp point. The wheel runs easier than it did, but has still too
much friction. I wished to have had an hour's consultation with you, but
have been prevented by sundry matters among others by that plaguey stove,
which is now in your hands."

Watt was most grateful to
Murdock for his unvarying assistance. In January, 1813, when Watt was in his
seventy-seventh year, he wrote to Murdock, asking him to accept a present of
a lathe "I have not heard from you," he says, "in reply to my letter about
the lathe; and, presuming you are not otherwise provided, I have bought it,
and request your acceptance of it. At present, an alteration for the better
is making in the oval chuck, and a few additional chucks, rest, etc., are
making to the lathe. When these are finished, I shall have it at Billinger's
until you return, or as you otherwise direct. I am going on with my drawings
for a complete machine, and shall be glad to see you here to judge of them."

The drawings were made, but
the machine was never finished. "Invention," said Watt, "goes on very slowly
with me now." Four years later, he was still at work; but death put a stop
to his "diminishing-machine." It is a remarkable testimony to the skill and
perseverance of a man who had already accomplished so much, that it is
almost his only unfinished work. Watt died in 1819, in the eighty-third year
of his age, to the great grief of Murdock, his oldest and most attached
friend and correspondent.

Meanwhile, the firm of
Boulton and Watt continued. The sons of the two partners carried it on, with
Murdock as their Mentor. He was still full of work and inventive power. In
1802, he applied the compressed air of the Blast Engine employed to blow the
cupolas of the Soho Foundry, for the purpose of driving the lathe in the
pattern shop. It worked a small engine, with a 12-inch cylinder and 18-inch
stroke, connected with the lathe, the speed being regulated as required by
varying the admission of the blast. This engine continued in use for about
thirty-five years. In 1803 Murdock experimented on the power of
high-pressure steam in propelling shot, and contrived a steam-engine with
which he made many trials at Soho, thereby anticipating the apparatus
contrived by Mr. Perkins many years later.

In 1810 Murdock took out a
patent for boring steam-pipes for water, and cutting columns out of solid
blocks of stone, by means of a cylindrical crown saw. The first machine was
used at Soho, and afterwards at Mr. Rennie's Works in London, and proved
quite successful. Among his other inventions were a lift worked by
compressed air, which raised and lowered the castings from the boring-mill
to the level of the foundry and the canal bank. He used the same kind of
power to ring the bells in his house at Sycamore Hill, and the contrivance
was afterwards adopted by Sir Walter Scott in his house at Abbotsford.

Murdock was also the inventor
of the well-known cast-iron cement, so extensively used in engine and
machine work. The manner in which he was led to this invention affords a
striking illustration of his quickness of observation. Finding that some
iron-borings and sal-ammoniac had got accidently mixed together in his
tool-chest, and rusted his saw-blade nearly through, he took note of the
circumstance, mixed the articles in various proportions, and at length
arrived at the famous cement, which eventually became an article of
extensive manufacture at the Soho Works.

Murdock's ingenuity was
constantly at work, even upon matters which lay entirely outside his special
vocation. The late Sir William Fairbairn informed us that he contrived a
variety of curious machines for consolidating peat moss, finely ground and
pulverised, under immense pressure, and which, when consolidated, could be
moulded into beautiful medals, armlets, and necklaces. The material took the
most brilliant polish and had the appearance of the finest jet.

Observing that fish-skins
might be used as an economical substitute for isinglass, he went up to
London on one occasion in order to explain to brewers the best method of
preparing and using them. He occupied handsome apartments, and, little
regarding the splendour of the drawing-room, he hung the fish-skins up
against the walls. His landlady caught him one day when he was about to bang
up a wet cod's skin! He was turned out at once, with all his fish. While in
town on this errand, it occurred to him that a great deal of power was
wasted in treading the streets of London! He conceived the idea of using the
streets and roadways as a grand tread-mill, under which the waste power
might be stored up by mechanical methods and turned to account. He had also
an idea of storing up the power of the tides, and of running water, in the
same way. The late Charles Babbage, F.R.S., entertained a similar idea about
using springs of Ischia or of the geysers of Iceland as a power necessary
for condensing gases, or perhaps for the storage of electricity.[12] The
latter, when perfected, will probably be the greatest invention of the next
half century.

Another of Murdock's'
ingenious schemes, was his proposed method of transmitting letters and
packages through a tube exhausted by an air-pump. This project led to the
Atmospheric Railway, the success of which, so far as it went, was due to the
practical ability of Murdock's pupil, Samuel Clegg. Although the atmospheric
railway was eventually abandoned, it is remarkable that the original idea
was afterwards revived and practised with success by the London Pneumatic
Dispatch Company.

In 1815, while Murdock was
engaged in erecting an apparatus of his own invention for heating the water
for the baths at Leamington, a ponderous cast-iron plate fell upon his leg
above his ankle, and severely injured him. He remained a long while at
Leamington, and when it was thought safe to remove him, the Birmingham Canal
Company kindly placed their excursion boat at his disposal, and he was
conveyed safely homeward. So soon as he was able, he was at work again at
the Soho factory. Although the elder Watt had to a certain extent
ignored the uses of steam as applied to navigation, being too much occupied
with developing the powers of the pumping and rotary engine, the young
partners, with the stout aid of Murdock, took up the question. They supplied
Fulton in 1807 with his first engine, by means of which the Clermont made
her first voyage along the Hudson river. They also supplied Fulton and
Livingston with the next two engines for the Car of Neptune and the Paragon.
From that time forward, Boulton and Watt devoted themselves to the
manufacture of engines for steamboats. Up to the year 1814, marine engines
had been all applied singly in the vessel; but in this year Boulton and Watt
first applied two condensing engines, connected by cranks set at right
angles on the shaft, to propel a steamer on the Clyde. Since then, nearly
all steamers are fitted with two engines. In making this important
improvement, the firm were materially aided by the mechanical genius of
William Murdock, and also of Mr. Brown, then an assistant, but afterwards a
member of the firm.

In order to carry on a set of
experiments with respect to the most improved form of marine engine, Boulton
and Watt purchased the Caledonia, a Scotch boat built on the Clyde by James
Wood and Co., of Port Glasgow. The engines and boilers were taken out. The
vessel was fitted with two side lever engines, and many successive
experiments were made with her down to August, 1817, at an expense of about
10,000L. This led to a settled plan of construction, by which marine engines
were greatly improved. James Watt, junior, accompanied the Caledonia to
Holland and up the Rhine. The vessel was eventually sold to the Danish
Government, and used for carrying the mails between Kiel and Copenhagen. It
is, however, unnecessary here to venture upon the further history of steam
navigation.

In the midst of these
repeated inventions and experiments, Murdock was becoming an old man. Yet he
never ceased to take an interest in the works at Soho. At length his
faculties experienced a gradual decay, and he died peacefully at his house
at Sycamore Hill, on the l5th of November,1839, in his eighty-fifth year. He
was buried near the remains of the great Boulton and Watt; and a bust by
Chantrey served to perpetuate the remembrance of his manly and intelligent
countenance.

Footnotes
[1] Fletcher's Political Works, London, 1737, p. 149,
[2] One of the Murdocks built the cathedral at Glasgow, as well as others in
Scotland. The famous school of masonry at Antwerp sent out a number of
excellent architects during the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. One of
these, on coming into Scotland, assumed the name of Murdo. He was a
Frenchman, born in Paris, as we learn from the inscription left on Melrose
Abbey, and he died while building that noble work: it is as follows:-- "John
Murdo sumtyme cait was I And born in Peryse certainly, An' had in kepyng all
mason wark Sanct Andrays, the Hye Kirk o'Glasgo, Melrose and Paisley,
Jedybro and Galowy. Pray to God and Mary baith, and sweet Saint John, keep
this Holy Kirk frae scaith."
[3] The discovery of the Black Band Ironstone by David Mushet in 1801, and
the invention of the Hot Blast by James Beaumont Neilson in 1828, will be
found related in Industrial Biography, pp. 141-161.
[4] Note to Lockhart's Life of Scott.
[5] This was stated to the present writer some years ago by William
Murdock's son; although there is no other record of the event.
[6] See Lives of Engineers (Boulton and Watt), iv. pp. 182-4. Small edition,
pp. 130-2.
[7] Mr. Pearse's letter is dated 23rd April, 1867, but has not before been
published. He adds that "others remembered Murdock, one who was an
apprentice with him, and lived with him for some time--a Mr. Vivian, of the
foundry at Luckingmill."
[8] Murdock's house still stands in Cross Street, Redruth; those still live
who saw the gas-pipes conveying gas from the retort in the little yard to
near the ceiling of the room, just over the table; a hole for the pipe was
made in the window frame. The old window is now replaced by a new
frame."--Life of Richard Trevithick, i. 64.
[9] Philosophical Transactions, 1808, pp. l24-l32.
[10] Winsor's family evidently believed in his great powers; for I am
informed by Francis Galton, Esq., F.R.S., that there is a fantastical
monument on the right-hand side of the central avenue of the Kensal Green
Cemetery, about half way between the lodge and the church, which bears the
following inscription:--"Tomb of Frederick Albert Winsor, son of the late
Frederick Albert Winsor, originator of public Gas-lighting, buried in the
Cemetery of Pere la Chaise, Paris. "At evening time it shall be
light.--Zachariah xiv. 7. "I am come a light into the world, that whoever
believeth in Me shall not abide in darkness.--John xii. 46."
[11] Mr. Parkes, in his well known Chemical Essays (ed. 1841, p. 157), after
referring to the successful lighting up by Murdock of the manufactory of
Messrs. Phillips and Lee at Manchester in 1805, "with coal gas issuing from
nearly a thousand burners," proceeds, "This grand application of the new
principle satisfied the public mind, not only of the practicability, but
also of the economy of the application; and as a mark of the high opinion
they entertained of his genius and perseverance, and in order to put the
question of priority of the discovery beyond all doubt, the Council of the
Royal Society in 1808 awarded to Mr. Murdock the Gold Medal founded by the
late Count Rumford."
[12] "Thus," says Mr. Charles Babbage, "in a future age, power may become
the staple commodity of the Icelanders, and of the inhabitants of other
volcanic districts; and possibly the very process by which they will procure
this article of exchange for the luxuries of happier climates may, in some
measure, tame the tremendous element which occasionally devastates their
provinces."--Economy of Manufactures.

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